What Bank Does Direct Express Use?
What Bank Issues Direct Express Cards?
Direct Express cards are issued by Comerica Bank. Comerica is the largest commercial bank in the United States and one of the largest banks in the country.
Comerica has its headquarters in Dallas, Texas. It has several other locations in Arizona, California, Florida, and Michigan, with a part of their business operating in other states, as well as in Canada and Mexico.
Comerica Bank is the U.S. Treasury Department’s financial agent who delivers government benefits electronically.
The Treasury Department selected Comerica as a prepaid debit card issuer for federal benefit recipients in 2014. Comerica will continue to be the official issuer of the Direct Express prepaid debit card program until it signs a new agreement in 2025.
What Are The Advantages Of Comerica As The Direct Express Card Issuer?
Comerica offers lower fees to the Direct Express cardholders than those associated with other prepaid cards.
It allows benefit recipients to use their Direct Express cards at little or no cost. In addition, Comerica offers several ways to allow Direct Express cardholders to keep track of their transactions, like automated alerts for new deposits and low balance.
Comerica Bank also offers a network of thousands of surcharge-free ATMs throughout the country.
How Can I Find Out More About Comerica?
To find more about Comerica and its services, visit the bank’s official website.
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Why Was Comerica Recently In The News?
In summer 2018, after a significant increase in fraud cases, Comerica temporarily suspended its Cardless Benefit Access service.
This service allows cardholders who don’t have the physical card to request a money transfer to a MoneyGram location.
Direct Express cardholders found out that criminals were stealing their card numbers to make fraudulent online purchases.
They used Direct Express cardholder data and personal information to impersonate cardholders and get the payments routed to MoneyGram locations where they would pick up checks and cash them.
Comerica has been accused of being slow in reimbursing money and at times suspending accounts that are pending an investigation.
In some instances, cardholders were charged fees to have new cards issued and activated after a fraud.
As a result of the investigation into the Direct Express cardless service by the U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren in 2018, Comerica informed that it would no longer allow customers to call and have their benefits sent without having their physical card.
It has also reimbursed everyone who lost their money. Warren requested the Treasury Department to enhance fraud protection in the Direct Express prepaid program once its contract is renewed in 2020.
In January 2019, a number of retirees, veterans, and disabled cardholders from San Antonio sued Direct Express for debit card fraud.
Comerica Bank and Direct Express operator Conduent have been accused of conducting false investigations into the fraud charges and subsequently rejecting loss claims.
Get more information about Direct Express in this review article.